


Storge (Family Love)

by Yanara126



Series: Watcher Francesca a Ranger [2]
Category: Pillars of Eternity
Genre: Bonding, Family Bonding, Family Fluff, Female Watcher - Freeform, Fluff, Gen, Implied/Referenced Death in Childbirth, Ranger - Freeform, SO MUCH FLUFF, Talking, Watcher Francesca, Wolf Companion, but it's super short and was ages ago, family love
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-09-18
Updated: 2020-09-18
Packaged: 2021-03-07 21:21:34
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,414
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26534275
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Yanara126/pseuds/Yanara126
Summary: Edér gets to meet his niece and has a heart to heart with Francesca.
Relationships: Edér Teylecg & The Watcher, Edér Teylecg & Vela, Vela & The Watcher (Pillars of Eternity)
Series: Watcher Francesca a Ranger [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2035465
Comments: 4
Kudos: 3





	Storge (Family Love)

**Author's Note:**

> This was written by my desire that love prompts don't have to be romantic. It was also written in one go. I don't know if that is good or bad but it was.  
> As always, I'm very happy about any feedback you're willing to give me and I hope you have fun reading! :D

It was nice sunny afternoon, all the necessary jobs were taken care of for the day, and Francesca sat comfortably on the grass in her giant garden. Park really. With a content smile she watched the turbulent happenings before her. The air was filled with loud shrieks and giggles, some thumps and the occasional soft growl. It was a scene Francesca had never imagined, and even less imagined to enjoy. But somehow this was the happiest she’d ever been, nothing to do, nothing to take care of, not even really someone to share it with. Though that would admittedly change soon. Edér had never been one to waste time if there was the possibility of petting something soft. And Lupa was very soft.

Francesca grinned when Lupa once again caught Vela in their little game of tag, knocking the five-year-old over with a careful nudge in the back. Vela shrieked again and broke out into uncontrollable giggles when Lupa licked her cheek.

When she heard steps coming up behind her, Francesca didn’t bother turning away from her daughter, she already knew who it was. The fresh grass crunched a little as the newcomer sat down next to her, stretching his feet and groaning gratefully as his joints cracked. Only then did Francesca look over to him, the smile not leaving her face as she watched her friend blissfully stretch.

They didn’t break the silence for a while, only watching the child and wolf play together, soaking in the warm afternoon sun. Edér was the first one to fill the silence, though he was more awkward about it than Francesca would have expected.

“So, a mum, ey?” Francesca snorted at his comment and laughed a little. They hadn’t seen each other in almost a year, this was the first time he’d met Vela as her daughter and she’d expected some questions, but it seemed the whole situation hadn’t sunk in for him quite yet.

“Yes, a mum,” she told him, a bit of her usual sarcasm bleeding into her voice as she turned to him. Edér nodded awkwardly, still watching the small orlan play excitedly with the much larger wolf.

“Never took you for the type,” he remarked, the question implied, and turned to her as well. This time Francesca laughed out loud. It was incredibly hilarious to her that he would speak such truth from her soul and didn’t even know it.

“Neither did I,” was what finally made it past her laughter, and she found Edér staring at her with a smile of his own.

“Then how come you went through the trouble of adopting this one?” Said one was currently attempting enthusiastically to ride Lupa, and though the wolf didn’t mind letting this strange, bipedal pup, she was also far too big for Vela to truly climb on, resulting in continues falls on her bum. That didn’t stop the valiant little orlan though and she repeatedly tried again, her little tongue sticking out of her mouth in concentration. “Can’t have been easy to convince them to hand her over.”

No, it truly hadn’t been. But the endless diplomatic talks had been easier to endure than the constant aching of not doing anything, not she knew how to explain that to Edér. Or anyone for that matter. Her smile faded a little, melancholy setting in as she remembered the sleepless nights spent in confusion over why she couldn’t stop thinking about that child she had seen only once for a minute.

Edér was still looking at her expectantly when she surfaced from the memory and she sighed. It wasn’t that she didn’t want to tell Edér, in fact, Edér was probably one of the few people she would spill all her secrets to and not regret it, but that didn’t make organising her thoughts any easier.

“It’s hard to explain.”

“What, harder than the secrets of the gods?”

“Well, I suppose not,” she chuckled. “But it’s gonna be a long story.”

“I’m not going anywhere. And from the looks of it, neither is she.” Francesca looked over to Vela and found her daughter, who had apparently given up on her endeavour for a wolf mount, now trying to teach Lupa tricks. The wolf however was playing dumb, just calmly looking on and intentionally doing the wrong trick, which Francesca knew, because these tricks had been among the first she had taught her companion. Shaking her head amusedly Francesca saw that she really wasn’t getting out of this.

Buying herself some time she leant back onto her hands, staring into the sky, debating where to start and burying her fingers into the soft earth.

“You know I’m from Old Vailia. I was born and raised there, but my father was a traveller from the White. That’s how I got my white hair.” To emphasize her point she picked a loose strand of hair and thoughtfully twirled it between her fingers. “My mum was a huntress, and a traveller as well, that’s how they met. They liked each other and decided to stick together for a while. But it didn’t turned out quite how they planned, since my mum got pregnant. They talked about it and then agreed to settle down for a while together. Not much later I was born.” The story felt wooden to her, impersonal after so many years away from her birth place. Not home anymore, home was here now, in her keep, with her daughter.

“They stayed in a small village, mum opened a butchery since she couldn’t really hunt anymore with me around. And then, two years later, my little sister was born. And mum died.” A sigh left her lips again before she could stop it. It didn’t hurt anymore, it had been a long time ago and she didn’t even remember her mother, but still she had never stopped quietly stopped asking herself what might have been. But it was pointless, both because it was over, and because in all likelihood she would’ve grown up with only one parent either way.

“I’m sorry.” Of course he was. Edér’s sincerity never failed to bring a smile to her face, so now as well.

“Don’t be. It is what it is.” She shrugged at him. It’s not like her mother’s death had been anyone’s fault. Death in childbirth was a risk every woman took when bearing a child, and her mother had known that. She cleared her throat and turned away again, continuing the story. “My mother’s loss was of course a blow for my father, but it also meant that now he couldn’t leave anymore, and I think that struck him even harder. He had a toddler and a new-born to take care of alone now and couldn’t just leave to travel or return home again. And Old Vailia was never home for him.”

Suddenly she realized just how the story sounded and quickly added: “Don’t get me wrong, he was never abusive, or even neglectful. I’m sure he loved me and my sister or he wouldn’t have cared enough to stay either way, but still I don’t think he ever quite forgave us for trapping him in a place so foreign to him.” Again she trailed off a little, remembering her father’s unhappiness that only ever showed when he thought they weren’t looking.

“As soon as I was old enough to hold a bow, he taught me how to hunt, skin an animal, all you need to survive on your own. I helped him bring in the meat to make the money we needed as soon as I could, and my sister apprenticed to a local seamstress. It wasn’t easy but we made do. When I came of age I left, so my father had one less mouth to feed. I became a mercenary. I might not be very good in close combat, but you might know that I make a pretty good scout.” She shot Edér a sly grin, wriggling her eyebrows a little. Her gave a smile in return, but didn’t answer, still waiting for her to finish the story. Fair enough.

“I sent home some money for a while. Father always wrote back to tell me it’d arrived, and then one day he wrote me that my sister had gotten married. A city boy, pretty rich from what he said, so my sister was provided for. That was the last letter he sent me. I stopped sending money then.”

“So you don’t know what happened to him?” Edér’s voice was coated with a strange mixture of disbelieve and empathy, and with a start Francesca was reminded of how desperately Edér had searched for answers about his brother. An unfamiliar feeling of shame rose in her, and she could only nod in agreement. “Well, what about your sister? Wouldn’t she know where he is.” Of course he had to ask. And she couldn’t deny him the answer, no matter how hot the same suddenly burnt. What would he think of her for it?

“I never asked her.” She mumbled the words under her breath, almost hoping he wouldn’t hear them. But he did, disbelief shaping his face so much, Francesca felt the need to justify herself, though she certainly didn’t want to. “I still write her, I know she’s alive and well taken care of, she has a son of her now.” Her nephew that she’d never met. “But we never write about father.”

He still didn’t understand, but it seemed he didn’t feel like trying anymore. “Okay, okay. So how does this relate to you adopting the little pipsqueak?” And wasn’t that the question of all questions. But she’d much rather debate this than spend anymore time on her father and she scrambled to find the proper words.

“I never… I never felt quite right in Old Vailia either. I was an outsider, a stranger to my own people.” Again her fingers found their way to her hair. She was fine with it now, even a little proud of it, but as an adolescent she had wished many times for her sister’s darker shade. “So Vela’s fate… struck cord with me. I’d never been one for love really, it had seemed such a silly concept growing up, and my surroundings were only proving me right, but this baby, Vela… I couldn’t forget about her. About a child as out of place with her people as I was, even if she didn’t know it yet.” And she hopefully never would. “I couldn’t sleep again for a while. I didn’t understand why I couldn’t just move on. She wasn’t in danger anymore, her brother would take care of her, but still I couldn’t. And one day I just decided I couldn’t leave her there.” She looked back to Edér, her story essentially finished.

They sat in silence for a few seconds, only looking at each other and both just processing. Suddenly a loud yell of triumph shattered the moment and Francesca and Edér whirled around. What they found was Vela sitting on Lupa, having finally managed to climb on somehow. With one hand she was waving in their direction, euphoria more than visible on her face, with the other she pulled on the wolf’s fur to stay on, and Lupa patiently let her. Vela shrieked again when Lupa started walking over to them, slowly and carefully, but for the little orlan it was still the most adrenalin inducing ride she’d ever been on.

Francesca grinned broadly and got up, watching her daughter come closer, almost bouncing on the wolf’s back in excitement. Silently she promised Lupa an extra piece of meat tonight.

Once they were in reach, Francesca reached out and pulled Vela off her mount, throwing her into the air a little and catching her again, both laughing all the while.

“What a brave rider you are!” Vela giggled again, obviously still too full of adrenalin to do anything else. “But now I have someone to introduce to you.” Francesca turned around a little to put Edér into Vela’s field of vision and pressed her close. “Meet your uncle Edér. He was busy for the last year, but now he’s very excited to meet you.”

Edér blinked once, but then immediately complied, a broad grin splitting his face, even as Vela still seemed a bit unsure of the big man before her.

“Of course I am! I have to meet such a mighty warrior that has tamed this wild beast, right?” Vela grinned now as well, clearly fond of the flattery as she wildly nodded her head in agreement. Lupa on the other hand just snorted. She was more than used this human’s antics by now. “Would you perhaps let me pet your mighty steed, princess?” That made Vela a little insecure again, and she glanced up to Francesca, who gave her an encouraging nod. And so Vela looked to Edér again and gave him a very serious nod and permission to pet “her mighty steed.”

Said mighty steed had a different opinion though. As Edér bowed down a little to brush his hand over her fur, and sly glint, much like her master’s, appeared in her eyes, and before Francesca could warn him, Lupa had already leapt onto him, causing Edér to tumble to the ground, a giant wolf sitting on his chest.

“Good to see you again too, girl,” he coughed breathlessly, the considerable weight on his chest doing nothing to discourage him from petting the wolf. Francesca was laughing again, more than familiar with scenes like this already, but she stopped soon when she saw Vela’s face, who didn’t seem quite so amused at the situation. Not wanting to upset her daughter, she whistled for Lupa... who promptly ignored her, happily staying on the warm, silly human who thought he could tease her. Francesca whistled louder, with an insistent undertone impossible to overhear, and Lupa reluctantly got up again and trotted over.

The tense situation over, Vela seemed happier again, and Francesca decided to have a talk with her later just be sure. Edér pulled himself up from the ground, coughing once again, before happily saying: “Well that was a fluffy welcome!” Turning to Vela he added: “And thank you for your permission, princess!” which lifted her spirits even more.

The introductions made, and the sun slowly sinking over the horizon, they started to make their way back to the keep and towards dinner, laughter still hanging in the air behind them.


End file.
